Hudson’s Military Madness series premiered on the TurboGrafx-16 console in 1990, offering console gamers a rare look at the PC-dominated turn-based strategy genre. Though it never achieved the same level of success as Nintendo’s similar Advance Wars series, Military Madness became a cult hit, and spawned several sequels across multiple console generations.
Hudson’s latest franchise update, Military Madness: Neo Nectaris ($4.99) features the same hex-based strategy gameplay the series is known for, updated with touch screen controls and enhanced visuals. Players will guide an army of troops, tanks, and aircraft against an AI opponent in a single-player campaign that spans 48 maps.
Though Hudson has not clarified whether Military Madness: Neo Nectaris is an all-new series entry or a port of an existing title, it appears as though the game is a remake of the PC Engine Super CD game Neo Nectaris, meaning that much of the game’s content will be new to players outside of Japan.
Few developers know the turn-based strategy genre better than Koei, creator of classic franchises like Nobunaga’s Ambition and Uncharted Waters. The company’s approach to the genre is decidedly hardcore, and many of its titles focus on different periods of Chinese and Japanese history.
It’s an almost impenetrable combination for casual players, but many of Koei’s biggest franchises have seen dozens of successful sequels over the years. One of Koei’s most popular series, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, made its iPhone debut this week with the release of Romance of the Three Kingdoms Touch ($9.99).
Romance of the Three Kingdoms puts players in control of a sovereign in China during the second and third centuries. The object: crush all opposition. Choosing from a number of different playable warlords, players will guide an army through enemy territory in an attempt to claim as much land as possible.
Though Romance of the Three Kingdoms Touch features all the depth and complexity that defined all previous entries in the series, Koei has included a tutorial mode to ease new players into the experience. The game features five scenarios, and a total of 255 recruitable characters.
Luc Bernard’s Advance Wars-like real-time strategy title Mecho Wars ($4.99) has been released, and is now available for purchase through the iTunes App Store.
Mecho Wars will be instantly familiar to fans of Nintendo’s portable RTS series. Movement and troop positioning takes place from an overhead perspective, while battles between units shift to a close-up side view. Unlike many other titles in the genre, however, Mecho Wars avoids the expected military-themed aesthetic in favor of a unique fantasy setting and a cast of animal-like creatures.
Mecho Wars also includes a day-night cycle that affects gameplay — bodies of water will freeze and become traversable overnight, adding new layers of strategic options for battles that extend past midnight.
Mecho Wars has earned a solid App Store response so far, achieving a review score average of four-and-a-half stars in its first weekend of release. A gameplay trailer is below.
Mark Damon Hughes has made his turn-based RPG, Perilar ($4.99), available in the App Store. Originally the game is available as a Java-based computer RPG which is free and can be played on Windows or Mac OSX, but Mark has ported it over to be played on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Perilar is a homage to classic computer RPG’s such as the Ultima and Might and Magic series, with old-school gameplay mechanics, graphics, and strategies.
The kingdom cries out for justice! For centuries, the Temple of Darkness was sealed beneath the castle, the Harbinger Lord trapped within, guaranteeing peace for the kingdom above.
Recently, the treacherous imp Ascaroth crept into the castle, slipped past the guards and the watchful King Minox, and broke the seals! The Temple’s opening spells doom!
Now, the wilderness is overrun with monsters, growing more powerful every day.
All of the kingdom’s experienced knights and wizards, masters of their professions but not true heroes, have been lost in battle with the monsters. Prophecy says that only an novice adventurer with limitless potential can become the Chosen One, able to enter the Temple of Darkness, battle the Harbinger Lord, and seal the Temple once more!
If Perilar is up your alley, be sure to also check out the critically acclaimed Vay ($4.99), another old-school RPG available in the App Store.
Third Cog Software released their two-player turn-based strategy game, Overload ($3.99). It’s a pretty unique game for the iPhone, based on the Palm game of the same name. Here’s the description on the game:
Overload is an abstract turn-based two-player strategy game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The goal of the game is to conquer the game board and cover it with your color. To achieve this, you charge neutral tiles and tiles in your color by tapping on them.
Once a tile is fully charged (or actually overloaded!) it will explode, leaking its energy onto the ajacent tiles (and thus conquering these tiles even if they belonged to the enemy!). Watch mighty chain reactions as you set of an explosion across the entire game board.
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